This Google Earth animation shows how the monthly mean sea ice edge in the Nordic Seas has changed between 1967-2002 for months March through August.
These data were compiled from multiple sources, including ship observations and satellite data, and offer a longer time series than satellite data alone.
Click here to access the documentation and the original data files.

This KML file differs from other sea ice KML files distributed by NSIDC because it contains an exceptionally long data record in the Nordic Seas (an area of high ice export from the Arctic Ocean).

NOTE: The white in the background is the sea ice cover from August of 2002. Sea ice extent from passive microwave data for August 2002, the last month and year of the Nordic Seas data, is shown as a visual reference for the typical global extent of sea ice at this time of year.

For more complete coverage of annual Arctic sea ice extent cycle, see a different sea ice KML file that displays the minimum and maximum sea ice extent.